Dell Mini 5 Android Tablet aka Streak

I was thinking about getting an iPad, but the Dell Mini 5 is looking pretty good. For me, the iPad is too large to take everywhere, can't replace my iPhone (since it isn't a phone), and the locked down application environment doesn't excite me.

The Mini 5 is sized in between an iPad and iPhone, is a phone, has a front facing camera for video chat, and a rear facing 5MP camera for photography. Since it's running Android there will be none of this Apple nonsense about allowed and not allowed applications. Free GPS. Google Voice. Tethering. Etc. Even if a carrier tries to handicap it, we're talking about an open-source OS, which should be easily user hackable.

I have Android running on my Verizon TP2. I love it. It's fast, all those cool Google apps are available like Google Voice and Voice Search. The only thing not working yet is the GPS, camera and rear speaker. Soon, I'll ditch WinMo completely. Even Google recognizes my phone as the Droid.

The iPad looks pretty neat, but I'm holding out for the HP slate, which will let you watch Netflix and Hulu and will run a normal OS. I'm also hoping it will have stylus input so that I can edit student manuscripts without printing, read school applications, etc (I'm a college prof). And of course it would make an excellent companion for photography--you could run Windows apps like Lightroom on it as well.

[. . .] I'm holding out for the HP slate, which will let you watch Netflix and Hulu and will run a normal OS. [. . .] And of course it would make an excellent companion for photography--you could run Windows apps like Lightroom on it as well.

Click to expand...

Windows? Damn, you'd had me interested for a moment. But perhaps some kind people will work out how to shoehorn Linux into it.

ipad for me. I've had enough of Microsoft so much so i'm forcing everything about them out of my mind. In a world without walls or doors, there is no need for Gates and Windows. IMHO
Since going to Mac, I only have had one problem and that was when a IT guy put in a HDD and did it wrong.

Microsoft has no imagination or creativity. I was recently in a mall that had a microsoft store. It was an exact copy of an apple store with a different color scheme and microsoft products. If they had an once of creativity or ingenuity microsoft office would do something that it couldn't do 10 years ago but it really doesn't.

Apple on the other hand is always creating and revolutionizing the computer and personal entertainment and communications industry. I don't always agree with every choice they make and the one that disturbs me the most is not allowing competing apps to their own on iphone but I think even this may change in time.

Microsoft is a victim of its success in some ways, especially when it comes to their business support. Business, as opposed to consumers, makes up a huge portion of Microsoft's market. Not so with Apple. If Microsoft dropped Windows 98 the way Apple dropped OS 9, or if Microsoft did anything like what Apple did to Power PC users, they would lose a huge core of their market.

We're just talking about two companies that serve two different purposes. Business moves slowly. They don't want a massive change to Office. They want backwards compatibility. Support for a massive array of hardware combinations.

I have been an Apple user since 1979, but sometimes the way Apple locks you down makes me think that they have become the Big Brother from their famous "Why 1984 won't be like 1984" commercial. You can't even change the search provider in Safari's search box without hacking it.

Yes, but you can use Firefox, Opera or Chrome on Mac... but that is what I mentioned about not having apps competing with apple apps on the iphone, that is what I think is wrong about apple's strategy.

Sure, but Safari's locked down search box is just one example of Apple's closed thinking. The lack of Flash support on the iPad is another example. There is no shortage of examples.

Being an Apple user is like having 10 really nice outfits. When you reach for that 11th shirt, the one with the stripes, Steve is there to tell you "You really don't want to wear that". Now I really like those 10 outfits, which is why I've been an Apple user all these years. I like other outfits as well, which is why I've been a Windows user too, and why I'll no doubt be an Android user as well.

The Google Android OS changes everything and is really throwing a monkey wrench in MS and Apples plans. Android on my TP2 is just amazing and fast compared to WinMo. Android runs faster from the micro SD card than WinMo from the built in flash memory.

Windows mobile is pretty bad though. Switchers from WinMo to Android tend to love Android. iPhone lovers who try Android usually don't like it at first but often appreciate it more as they learn how to use it maximally.

Good things are being said about the upcoming Windows Phone 7, so we may end up with three horses in this race before long .

But you can have Mac and Windows together. It is so easy to install Parallels or VMware Fusion. I have these on my machines yet I very rarely find a need for them. Therefore I think the Mac is the most flexible system. There may be more apps for Windows but 99.9% of what I need is available on a Mac.

On the other hand there is much more software for iphone than any other smart phone. Apple has made it easy for developers (in some ways as long as they play by apple rules). Android has the potential to be very big but apple is still ahead and will continue to be for the next few years at least.

Google doesn't quite get the consumer yet, they get business and know everything about everyone but need to get more consumer savvy to take a big chunk away from apple.

Like you, when I'm on my Mac, I rarely feel the need to run Windows. Only for a couple work-related things. When I do have to do those things, I still find the latest versions of Parallels and Fusion to be a little clunky. Certain apps won' work properly, and I don't know why. The flip side is that when I'm on Windows, I can't say that I ever feel the need to run Mac OS.

As for the iPhone apps, yes Apple has a big head start. They also had a head start in operating systems prior to Windows 95, and Steve Jobs still laments how they squandered that.

As time goes on, people are less and less willing to be controlled. Witness the demise of music DRM. Apple keeps blocking things like free GPS apps, Google voice, tethering. Meanwhile, Android is developing at a rapid pace.

Google doesn't necessarily have to "get" the consumer for Android phones to take the market away from iPhone. Google will have plenty of partners, and if Apple doesn't push forward, they will fall behind. Apple has already squandered most of their lead. The iPhone was revolutionary. Since then all they have done of note is add connection speed, processor speed, memory, and a couple features which should have been there from the start (eg, copy/paste).

I just read a review in the Chicago Sun Times about the iPad camera connector. It allows to import RAW and video files from the camera.

Amazing

I respect your idea of getting a Dell (duuuuuuuude... sorry, I couldn't resist). But no thanks. I can't wait for the iPad. The reviews are incredible. Even PC World (who is the anti-apple) is having a hard time to dislike it.

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